The present invention relates in general to a charger, and more particularly, to a dual input charger with a cable storing mechanism.
Owing to the prosperity of commercial transaction, the information communicated between people has become more important than ever. Further, because the mobile business is common to people nowadays, the percentage of people possessing mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDA), digital cameras, and laptop computers has been rapidly increased. To convince people to utilize the mobile business system, the most important thing except the quality of the communication signal is the working time of the battery providing power. Although the battery manufacturers continually work on the invention of a long-term battery, the working time of a battery is always limited. A battery needs to be recharged.
The chargers used for mobile business, according to their different external power source, can be divided into two different groups, the in-car charger and the house charger. The in-car charger has an electrical plug to connect it to the cigarette lighter of a car. The house charger has two metal blades to connect it to the alternating current (AC) receptacle of a house. However, these two different type chargers are always manufactured and sold independently. It is expensive for a consumer to buy both types of the chargers. It is also inconvenient for a consumer to carry two chargers.
Further, most consumers leave the charging cable tangled together when the charger is not in use. Some consumers wrap the charging cable directly around the external surface of the charger or collect the charging cable by folding. These storage methods always damage the inner electrical strands and therefore reduce the lifetime of the charging cable. Consumers are unlikely to notice these damages. Only if they fail to charge their battery for many times, can they notice their charger having problem. It is really troublesome for consumers.
A Taiwan patent with publication numbere 486187 discloses to remedy this problems. However, it was unsuccessful. According to the structure of the disclosure, its metal blades for connecting to the AC receptacle need to be pulled out by one's finger in order to be utilized. Because the space permitting the finger of a consumer to pull out the metal blades is quite small, it is difficult to utilize the invention in accordance with the patent. In addition, the cable storage method provided by the patent is to fold the charging cable. The possibility of fracture of the inner electrical strands still exits.